In case you don’t know Mel, she’s Screen’s crack French correspondent. Well worth a follow on twitter @mel_goodfellow.

In truth, this should be a strong lineup. One exec told me he expects ‘a bloodbath’, with many top names not making the cut.

Opinion seems to have crystallized around a happy few: every industry topper and his unpaid intern seem to think Carol will be in. Paolo Sorrentino’s The Early Years seems highly likely. The Lobster could well make the cut in one of the lineups.

Here’s influential French journalist Christophe Carriere with his predictions of the French entries:

Industry we spoke to said the festival kept the lineup closer-to-the-wire than ever before this year. Some only heard last thing last night.

There’s always plenty of jostling that goes on behind the scenes: ‘We can offer you this slot, but not that slot’..’We’d love to have you but not in this section…We understand if you need to go elsewhere…’ etc

You really must tune in to the Cannes promo video that’s playing on a loop. It’s a lot of fun.

What we do know are the opening films of the fest proper and Directors’ Fortnight, respectively: Standing Tallby French director Emmanuelle Bercot, and Philippe Garrel’s tangled tale of love and betrayal In the Shadow of Women.

Anyone know the time of the Cannes lineup announcement (aka Lecture on The State of the 7th Art + Some Films) tomorrow?

We were leafing through some issues of Screen from the 70’s yesterday and came across a piece featuring former Cannes president Gilles Jacob. We think this is Gilles’ last year as president, ending a run that stretches back to 1977. Remarkable.

Even more remarkable is the supposed ban on selfies on the red-carpet this year! Really? We can add that to the famed croisetiquette…But will A-listers really be called to account for doing so? Fest topper Thierry Fremaux did make the announcement on April Fool’s Day….

Ooh, I hear that famous Cannes auditorium music….It’s happening…It’s alive…

Festival head Thierry Fremaux is speaking and correcting me [not literally] on my earlier post. Gilles stepped down last year.

So, we’re currently hearing all about the new sponsors of the festival. Essential but obviously quite tedious.

We also know, of course, that Mad Max: Fury Road will be playing at this year’s fest, which runs May 13-24.

Fremaux is talking about a sponsorship deal the fest has with a big jewels company…. Pay attention would-be-heisters [reference to the jewel heists that grabbed headlines last year].

Oops, Cannes is experiencing tech difficulties. We’re down…

We’re up!

Of course, that wasn’t Thierry speaking, it was journalist Pierre Lescaud who is now discussing this year’s poster and partnerships.

Cannes royalty Isabella Rossellini will be presiding over this year’s Un Certain Regard section, he says. Lescaud is discussing events around the world that Rossellini will be taking part in to honour her mother Ingrid Bergman.

Right, Thierry now discussing some more Cannes initiatives and is about to show a video of…Josh Brolin in a promo video….only problem is the audio stream is not live from the video, it’s live from the auditorium meaning we can’t hear it…So that’s good.

Quite a few people in the audience are laughing, though, so they’re enjoying it. Josh seems to be dressed as a cowboy so I imagine it’s a nod to the Coens’ No Country for Old Men. The Coens’ are of course jury president this year. Useful when it comes to snagging star appearances in promo videos. Not their only use, of course.

Pierre is telling us that he and Thierry were on the phone eight times last night. Are they a couple? No, they had a big announcement to make this morning…Pierre is telling us that Thierry was also at the footie last night. The Champs league. Multi-tasker!

Ok, here we go! They’re going to announce 90 percent of the lineup….except they’re not…yes, this is just like the Champions League draw.

Theirry says this is a ‘good, fresh and risky’ lineup. It ‘expresses the ‘art and evolution of cinema’.

They received 1,854 films this year..Wow, that’s a few. He says every film is viewed by multiple people. Shoot a film on your phone, send it in, and they’ll watch it. Easy.

He says, this year won’t showcase as many ‘returning directors’. Not so many ‘grand auteurs’. Hmmmm.

We’re not expecting a Malick, are we? Hard to keep up with Terry.

This year’s selection will highlight some new and returning countries.

Thiery is talking about ehtics…He is French. He and collegaues will be wearing ‘ethical tuxedos’…! Really, Thierry?

They are not prohibiting selfies, he adds, but will be looking to launch a campaign to diminsih the ‘grotesque’ red carpet tradition. So that’s that.

Out of Comp titles include Mad Max, which he descibes as a ‘walk through the Australian desert’…Charmant. And….Woody Allen’s Irrational Man! He couldn’t convince Woody to play in comp, however. Also Out of Comp is Pixar’s Inside Out…And animation Le Petit Prince Et Moi.

So, Natalie Portman film will be presenting her film as a special screening.

Un Certain Regard so far includes:

UN CERTAIN REGARD

MASAAN (FLY AWAY SOLO) by Neeraj GHAYWAN

HRÚTAR (RAMS) by Grímur HÁKONARSON

Fremaux is talking about the fertile Korean cinema of today. He has annoucned 3 Korean films so far. Strong.

He promises that there won’t be so many long films this year. So average running time of only 4 hours then.

And we’re down again…And back. And down…And back…like being at Roland Garros this.

UN CERTAIN REGARD update…

MASAAN (FLY AWAY SOLO) by Neeraj GHAYWAN

HRÚTAR (RAMS) by Grímur HÁKONARSON

KISHIBE NO TABI (JOURNEY TO THE SHORE) by KUROSAWA Kiyoshi

JE SUIS UN SOLDAT (I AM A SOLDIER) by Laurent LARIVIÈRE

ZVIZDAN (THE HIGH SUN) by Dalibor MATANIC

THE OTHER SIDE by Roberto MINERVINI

Main comp coming now….Four French films out of comp, he says. But the lineup isn’t complete, he says.

Thierry is discussing the reason for the opening choice and the fact that this one isn’t so glamorous and ‘Hollywood’….But it will be, he says. The Deneuve factor. Instead of a more obviously mainstream title he says he wanted to kick the festival off with one that could have been in competition…except this one isn’t. Clear?!

Audiard is in! Boom. Big gun. And expected. Dheepan is the working title.

Valerie Donzelli…Ah, lost stream…Cannes, you need to sort this out. We missed films 2-4. Can you recap, please?

Thierry has just listed the stars they’re expecting…wow, quite the lineup this year! Starrier than ever? Incredible.

The lineup in full:

Dheepan (working title), Jacques Audiard

A Simple Man (La Loi Du Marché), Stéphane Brizé

Marguerite And Julien, Valérie Donzelli

The Tale Of Tales (Il Racconto Dei Racconti), Matteo Garrone

Carol, Todd Haynes

The Assassin (Nie Yinniang), HOU Hsiao Hsien

Mountains May Depart (Shan He Gu Ren), JIA Zhang-Ke

Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary), Hirokazu KORE-EDA

Macbeth, Justin Kurzel

The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos

Mon Roi, Maïwenn

Mia Madre, Nanni Moretti

Son Of Saul (Saul Fia), László Nemes

Youth, Paolo Sorrentino

Louder Than Bombs, Joachim Trier

Sea of Trees, by Gus Van Sant

Sicario, Denis Villeneuve

Thierry taking questions. First one out the gate is about the shortage of UK films. No Mike Leigh or Ken Loach this year, of course. The two warhorses account for pretty much every UK fimmaker to have made it into competition [joke]. Thierry says Macbeth has a UK element but admits that it can be tricky to find UK films for the main competition lineup. He says when they do have them, they tend to be very good ones. Hmmm.

The second question is about why some of the Italian films are in English. Thierry denies that this is to please US audiences.

On that question of UK films: The Lobster certainly has a large UK element. Carol has a major UK element but the official word is that it should be deemed a US film. No Wheatley so far. No Terence Davies either. No Frears.

The Screen office is pretty excited about this lineup. It’s always starry but this seems a bumper year for potential star-count.

Reviews editor Fionnuala Halligan is reminding us that the Moretti review is already live on our site. Read it here. Interesting.

One reporter notes the lack of Spanish films in the lineup. True that.

Thierry says he’ll take one last question…it’s about the number of jury members. Not a crescendo question. Those will come from our @mel_goodfellow who will be interviewing Thierry later this afternoon. Check back in for that later.

Looks like a pretty strong lineup to us. What do you think? Congrats in order for all those with films in the lineup.

Film4 are among the parties to be congratulated. The UK broadcaster backed four of the films in the lineup: Todd Haynes’ CAROL, Yorgos Lanthimos’ THELOBSTER, Paolo Sorrentino’s YOUTH and Justin Kurzel’s MACBETH.

No Vinterberg so far, notices a colleague. Shame.

Well, the celebrations and inquests will begin. We’re not done, remember. Still more films to come in the coming weeks. But that’s the vast majority in the bag. 90%, according to Thierry.

And on that bombshell, it’s time for me to bid you adieu. We’ll have plenty more reaction throughout the day and that interview with Thierry. Click here for the full line-up.

Subscribe to Screen International

Screen International is the essential resource for the international film industry. Subscribe now for monthly editions, awards season weeklies, access to the Screen International archive and supplements including Stars of Tomorrow and World of Locations.